Think Twice
by sydneycrush
Summary: Just a oneshot on bullying. Check it out please! THink twice before you speak. Scars Don't Heal.


"Okay class!" yelled the teacher, getting all the kids to settle down. I stood there, a bit nervous, but also excited. I was nervous because I was a sophomore standing on front of freshman, but excited because I had a plan.

"Now, this is Sydney, and she is going to do a lesson today. Now be respectful and follow along," finished the teacher, gesturing to me to begin.

I took in a huge breath of air and let it out to come myself, "Okay, hey guys! How are you guys doing today?"

"Good!" the class chorused. I eased up a bit and kept going.

"Good," I smiled, "Now, I am sure you guys have heard an earful on bullying since you started school, am i right?"

They all nodded simultaneously, a few grunts inbetween, and I smiled, _this isn't so bad_.

"Now, I'm here on that subject, but promise me, this is no plain, old lecture," I said, and grabbed the piece of paper from behind me, "Now, I want to ask you guys some questions. See if you guys know some things. That alright?"

One of the kids in the back, a short boy with an OBEY snapback, tank top, and kacki shorts, said., "You bet." Clearly he was the more ignorant of the class.

I ignored him and went on, "So, who has, had, or knows anyone that has been bullied?"

I saw almost the entire class' hands go up.

"Okay," I said, moving on to the next question, "Who has bullied someone?"

Slowly and hesitantly, about half the class raised their hands, unsure of why they were being asked.

"Alright," I said, "Now, does anyone know the types of bullying?'

A boy with blonde hair and glasses raised his hand and I pointed to him, "Cyberbullying."

"Yes," I said and looked around the room as a few more hands shot up. I pointed to them.

A girl in a flowery dress and a cardigan with short brown hair replied, "Physical abuse." I nodded and continued.

A tall boy wearing a plaid button down and jeans said, "Verbal abuse." I nodded again and pointed to the last person. A girl wearing all black and heavy, dark makeup.

"Mental," she said, her voice almost a whisper.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked kindly.

"When you bully yourself. Like, girls tend to bully themselves over what they see and read in the magazines, and how they aren't perfect. Or how boys beat themselves up about not being the strongest, fastest, or best looking guy out there. Even gay people, how they see society's judgements over homosexuality and they scold themselves because they think they are horrible people for like someone of the same gender."

She took me back a little bit. I hadn't thought of it that way, and here I was talking and teaching about it.

"Good point," I said and gave her a smile, "I hadn't thought about that."

She gave me a nervous smile and I turned back to the class, realizing I had gotten caught up in my own thoughts.

"So, class, what do you know about bullying?"

About five or six hands shot up and I let them speak, one at a time.

"It doesn't just happen at school. A lot of abuse and bullying happens at home and especially on the internet."

"Eating disorders and cutting stem from it."

"Its one of the leading causes in suicide among teens?"

"Most bullies are bullies because they were bullied themselves."

I nodded, smiling and continued on with what I had planned.

"Thanks you guys. Alright, can you please take out a single sheet of paper?" I asked.

I watched as they all shuffled around, retreaving their sheets of paper.

"Okay, now this is the fun part," I said and placed my iPod, with speakers plugged in, ont he table, "I am going to play some music. Now, while I do, I want you guys to crumple your paper. Stomp on it, smush it, rip it. Do whatever without using anything but yourself. Ready?"

They all nodded and replied with "Uh-huh's"

"Okay," I said, reaching for the play button, "Ready... Set... Go!"

I turned on some rock and watched as they all destroyed their papers. I even saw some kids biting them. But I saw the kid in the back, the one with the snapback, just sitting there, watching everyone. I walked over to him, his eyes following me as I walked towards him.

"What's wrong? Why aren't you destroying your paper?"

"This is retarded. Why the fuck are we doing this?" he said, clearly sounding annoyed and a little angry.

I stood up, excited for the next part of the lesson, and walked back up to the front. I hit pause on the dock and everyone stopped, holding their piece of paper in their hands.

"Okay, now I want you to try and fix your paper. Smooth it out, trying to remove the wrinkles," I said, watching as they all began to rub the pieces of paper on the desk with their hands. Pulling and pushing across the edge of the desk to try and straighten it out.

"Okay," I said after about a minute or so, "Now, tell the paper your sorry."

Everyone in the room, including the teacher, looked at me like I was a little crazy, and I laughed, "Trust me, just try it."

They all gave me skeptic looks and then turned to their papers, apologizing like I had asked.

"Okay, now, I know you apologized and everything, but what happened to your paper?" I asked.

The girl in the dress raised her hand, "Ya?" I asked.

"Nothing, its still messed up." she said.

"Exactly," I said, ready to make my point, "the reason I had you do this was to show you that when you bully someone, all the damage you do, and that no matter how much you apologize, the scars never fade. That if you had never said the nasty words, like not wrinkling and smashing the paper, you would not need to apoligize and try to fix it. There fore-"

The girl in all black cut me off, "Therefore, there would be no scars to heal. Your telling us that when we bully someone, were just leaving scars in them and that no matter how much we try to make it right, there will always be the reminders and scars, no matter if visible or not."

I smiled, "Exactly. What's your name?"

"Kelsie," she said and I gestured to her, "Can you come up here?"

She nodded, "Sure." and walked up front, her combat boots making soft thuds against the carpet.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and faced her towards the class, "This, ladies and gentlemen, is someone who can lead by example."

I looked at her, "How do you know so much about this?"

She looked to the ground and stuffed her hands in the pockets of her hoodie, "I..."

I squeezed her by the shoulders, letting her know she can continue.

"I was bullied. Actually, I still am. No one realizes that it doesn't take much to hurt someone." I saw her glance towards the boy in the snapback, "How hard it is not break down because of something you said."

I saw the boy in the snapback glance away, as if he didn't want to hear it.

I let the girl go back to her seat and nodded to the teacher, "I'm done."

~One Week Later~

I was sitting in my English class when I heard my teacher call my name.

I walked over to her desk and saw she was holding a stack of envelopes, a sticky note on top with my name on it. She handed it to me, saying it was from the class I had spoken to.

I went back to my desk, pulling the rubber band off the stack and opened the first envelope. It had a piece of paper in it. It read:

Dear Sydney,

Thank you for coming to talk to us. What you showed us really changed my point of view. I hadn't thought about bullying that way before. I actually save the piece of paper. It's in the front of my binder, there to remind me of what you taught me. I just wanted to let you know, you changed my life and my view of it. Thank you for showing me another perspective.

Sincerely,

Laura

I read through all of the envelopes one by one, all of them containing a letter somewhat along the line's of that first one. I couldn't believe I had touched so many people. It astounded me and I was actually proud of myself.

The last envelope in the stack was a bit heavier and thicker than the others. I opened it, checking the writer's name at the bottom. There wasn't one. I read through the letter, it going like this:

Dear Sydney,

Im sorry for being so rude in class. Honestly, you changed my whole perspective on everything. I realized later on that day that I'm dousche. I bully people too. But you were right, i was bullied about being so short and fat, but I let it get to me. Thank you so much for showing me what happens when you bully someone. I will take that into account now whenever I am about to be mean to someone. I actually... I tried apologizing to the people I have bullied. I have actually made some friends from it. It would be awesome if you shared this lesson you showed us, with the rest of the school. I was talking to a bunch of my buddies and they said you should teach this to the whole school. It was an amazing example and I swear, you opened all of our eyes to this, and showed us what happens. I can't thank you enough. Also, I can't say sorry enough for how I treated you in class that day. Im sorry. Anyways, definitely share this with the rest of the school! I would love to help you if you decide too! My name is Kyle by the way. Thanks again!

I couldn't believe it. This kid actually admitted to bullying and then said he was trying to change that. He even wanted me to share this with the whole school. I was speechless for words. I mean, I didn't think any of this, this kind of feedback, would happen. I just had an idea and I wanted to see if it would work. Now what I'm thinking is...

Will it work for the rest of the school?

Authors Note!

Hey Guys! Okay, I know this isn't fanfiction typical or anything, but I got this really cool idea for a story and really wanted to try it out. Honestly, this is one of the easiest stories I have written. It was fun to write too. Alright, I dont know what else to say.

Later Alligator!


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